State Highlights: New York Seeks Information From Facebook, App Makers About Sharing Of Personal Data; Cleveland Clinic Aims To Double Number Of Patients It Treats
Media outlets report on news from New York, Ohio, California, Texas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Kansas and Colorado.
The Wall Street Journal:
New York Requests Documents From Facebook, Apps On Data Sharing
A New York regulator is ramping up a promised investigation of how Facebook Inc. gathered sensitive personal information from popular smartphone applications, after a report by The Wall Street Journal revealed that some apps were sending the social-media giant data, including users’ body weight and menstrual cycles. The state’s Department of Financial Services on Wednesday sent a series of letters seeking information and documents from Facebook and the developers behind the at least 11 apps mentioned in the Journal’s reporting, according to a person familiar with the investigation. (Schechner, 2/28)
Modern Healthcare:
Cleveland Clinic Outlines Ambitious Goals For Serving More Patients
Cleveland Clinic, already a behemoth in healthcare, wants to double the number of patients it treats in just five years, clinic president and CEO Dr. Tom Mihaljevic announced Wednesday morning, Feb. 27, in the State of the Clinic address. In the annual speech, he highlighted the system's finances, which took a hit in 2018, as well as the health of the institution's care of its patients, its caregivers, its community and itself. (Coutré, 2/28)
Stat:
University Of California Breaks Up With Major Publisher Over Access Dispute
After months of negotiations, the University of California system has decided not to renew its subscriptions to journals put out by the major publisher Elsevier — a decision that could have big ripple effects for the way that academic research gets read and paid for. The move, announced in a release from the university system on Thursday, follows a breakdown in negotiations over payments for open-access research, which is made freely available to the public online. The dispute comes amid a larger effort by academics to try to shift toward greater open access in research and loosen the grip of publishers like Elsevier on the process. (Robbins, 2/28)
Dallas Morning News:
Dallas ISD Trustees Adopt Expanded Sex Education Plan
Dozens of speakers packed a Dallas school board meeting Thursday to make their voices heard on two hot-button proposals: one expanding sex education and another that would create partnerships with charter schools for some prekindergarten campuses. Trustees adopted the expanded sex education plan 6-1 with board member Lew Blackburn voting against it. Trustee Joyce Foreman was not present at the vote. (Ayala, 2/28)
WBUR:
Beth Israel Lahey Health Is Set To Become Official
The new Beth Israel Lahey Health (BILH) has 13 hospitals that cover eastern Massachusetts from Gloucester to Plymouth. A total of 4,300 physicians and 9,000 nurses practice in those hospitals, and the network has nearly 35,000 employees and 1.3 million patients. (Mullins and Bebinger, 2/28)
Boston Globe:
Things To Watch As Beth Israel, Lahey Merger Becomes Official
After years of planning, the merger between Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Lahey Health becomes official Friday. ...The system will be nearly equal in size to Partners HealthCare, the state’s dominant health care provider and parent of several hospitals, including Brigham and Women’s and Massachusetts General. (Dayal McCluskey, 3/1)
Los Angeles Times:
He Overdosed In Jail On Medication For His Mental Illness. His Family Is Suing For Answers
Lewis Nyarecha was found unresponsive on a top bunk at the Twin Towers jail in downtown Los Angeles by a fellow inmate. He had missed dinner the night before and breakfast that day. Two L.A. County sheriff’s deputies began to haul the 25-year-old Nyarecha off the bunk, only to drop him, slamming the back of his head on a metal desk and sending blood gushing. Though he received CPR, Nyarecha would be declared dead on a June morning last year. The county coroner found the cause of his death was quetiapine toxicity; he was given the drug because he was schizophrenic. (Winton, 2/28)
Pioneer Press:
Hospital Errors On Rise In Minnesota But Remain Rare, State Report Says
Hospital errors rose in the last year across Minnesota, according to the state’s Department of Health’s annual report on the subject. The Minnesota Department of Health reported 384 “adverse health events” from October 2017 to October 2018, the highest number in the last 10 years. The report, which was the first of its kind in the nation, counts on hospitals to self-report preventable incidents such as falls, pressure ulcers and medication errors. (Lundy, 3/1)
Kansas City Star:
KU’s Watkins Health Center Expands Transgender Services
A collaboration between Watkins Health Services and the university’s counseling and psychological department, combined with support from student government leaders, prompted the university to expand the services it offers trans students at the Lawrence campus. Until now, transgender students seeking health care — particularly services related to transitioning physically — had limited options. (Bergen, 3/1)
Denver Post:
Aurora Hills Middle School Students, Staff To Be Tested For Tuberculosis
Some individuals at Aurora Hills Middle School were infected with tuberculosis, test results last week showed, according to Denver Public Health. So officials are expanding testing to all students and staff who were at the school during the fall semester. A news release from the agency stated that people who were potentially exposed to the disease were tested in January but didn’t show signs of infection. However, new test results of the same people showed that some did get infected. (Hindi, 2/28)
Boston Globe:
Marijuana Cafes One Step Closer To Reality — Slowly
Now, the commission is poised to take up the issue again, after an advisory panel voted unanimously this week to recommend that regulators allow cannabis “bars” to open. This time, however, the agency is moving forward much more cautiously, contemplating a slow rollout of marijuana cafes and one-off events in a limited number of cities and towns that opt in. (Martin, 3/1)
The Associated Press:
Police Pledge Thorough Investigation Of Patient Deaths
Law enforcement authorities on Thursday pledged a "thorough investigation" into allegations against an intensive-care doctor accused of ordering painkiller overdoses for dozens of Ohio hospital patients. In addition, the state attorney general's office confirmed it is conducting a Medicaid fraud investigation related to the doctor. (2/28)
The Star Tribune:
Health Care Costs In Minn. Projected To Grow By 7.4% A Year For Years To Come
The overall cost of health care in Minnesota grew at a relatively low rate during 2016, according to a new state report, but the broader trend points toward a likely doubling of expenses over the next decade. Total health costs in 2016 came in at $47.1 billion, a 4 percent increase over the previous year, according to the annual study by the Minnesota Department of Health. The report cited relatively low payments to health insurers that manage care in state public health insurance programs as contributing to the low growth rate. (Snowbeck, 2/28)
Denver Post:
Colorado Disabilities Activist, Carrie Ann Lucas, Dies After Illness
Carrie Ann Lucas, a Colorado attorney and activist who advocated for parents with disabilities, died on Sunday. She was 47 years old. Lucas, who lived in Windsor, died from septic shock after becoming sick last year, said her mother Lee Lucas. ...Carrie Lucas was an advocate of people with disabilities and worked to promote the rights of parents with disabilities, including helping pass a state law that eliminated disability as a reason a child can be removed from a home, according to her obituary. (Seaman, 2/28)